Planning a Week in Northern Thailand: Chiang Mai, the Hills and Chiang Rai

This is a planning example, not a report of a trip run for a client. It follows Northern Thailand Discovery, a published sample route of six nights and seven days, and sets out the decisions behind it: where the nights fall, how the travel days sit, and what to check before two of its days are sold. Suppliers, dates, availability and prices are confirmed in a quotation.

Who the route suits

It suits groups whose clients have already seen Bangkok and the islands and now want the north on its own terms. A whole-country sprint gives Chiang Mai a day and Chiang Rai a photo stop. These travellers want time with the Lanna temples, the northern kitchen, the hill country and the border country along the Mekong. A week spent entirely in the north is the product for them.

Three bases, six nights

The sample route sleeps in three places: three nights in Chiang Mai, one in the hills toward Mae Chaem and two in Chiang Rai. Each stop has a job.

Chiang Mai comes first because arriving there is easy. The airport is about twenty minutes from the walled old city, so the arrival day keeps its afternoon. The next morning goes to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, early, before the cloud builds on the mountain and the midday crowds arrive. The old-city Lanna temples, Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phra Singh, wait for the cooler late afternoon. The third day is split between an elephant visit and a northern Thai cooking class that opens with a market walk. The elephant half depends on a venue check, covered below.

The hills get a single night, at a community-run homestay toward Mae Chaem. It asks for more preparation than any other night on the route.

Chiang Rai gets two nights in the same hotel, so nobody repacks between its two days. The first afternoon is for the White Temple, Wat Rong Khun, and the Blue Temple, Wat Rong Suea Ten. The next day runs north to the Golden Triangle viewpoint, a boat on the Mekong and the Hall of Opium. On the last morning, departure transfers are timed to each flight, with onward connections south through Chiang Mai or Bangkok, or across the border.

Treat the overland legs as travel days

Two legs run by road: Chiang Mai up into the hills, and the hills north to Chiang Rai. In the sample each one opens a day, so the driving never comes at the end of a long one. The drive into the hills comes before the community visit, and the drive to Chiang Rai before the temple afternoon.

Sell those afternoons carefully. Do not promise a full programme on a transfer day until three things are known: when the group arrives, how much rest it needs, and when the sites close. If the group reaches Chiang Rai late, agree in advance what moves and to when. That conversation is easier in the office than at a temple gate.

Check the elephant visit and the homestay before you sell them

Pai Dai applies four limits to any elephant venue: no riding, no bathing or washing by visitors, no hand-feeding or unbarriered contact, and no performances. A venue must meet all four before the day is sold. The venue on this route is still being checked against them, so the quotation states whether the elephant visit is confirmed or replaced with another cultural or nature day. A name such as "sanctuary" proves none of the four, and neither does a photograph or a place on a recommendation list. Never lower the standard to keep one line of an itinerary.

The homestay needs a different kind of check. Confirm who hosts, what the beds and bathrooms are, the rules on photographs and which activities the community has agreed to. Village life is not a show to be scheduled without consent. Travellers pack light for the night, and the main luggage stays with the coach where the property allows. Nights in the hills are cool in winter, so warm layers belong in the overnight bag.

What the quotation should show

The sample tells you the shape. The quotation is where that shape becomes a programme you can sell, and it should cover each of these lines:

The quotation also names the company your agency contracts with.

To cost the route for your dates, send a trade brief with the travel window, group size, rooming and the guide language you need. How we work with travel agencies explains registration and net rates.